Young musicians take part in an Engering Music Creators Studio Session at London College of Music 

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On 28 March 2026, five young composers, producers and singer-songwriters on our Thrive programme took part in a Studio Session Day at the London College of Music (LCM), part of the University of West London, creating and collaborating on songs together. 

The day was one of the brilliant opportunities for musicians on our Engering Music Creators project. Supported by the Margaret Engering Music Trust, the Engering Music Creators project supports budding songwriters, composers and producers on our Thrive programme with one-to-one mentoring, online seminars and in-person events. Through this project, young music creators have access to industry knowledge and opportunities to develop their craft alongside industry professionals.

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The Townshend Studio

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To start the day, the young musicians were invited on a bespoke tour around LCM’s own Townshend Studio! 

Inside the University of West London, the studio houses a collection of instruments used by Pete Townshend, co-founder of The Who. The Townshend Studio is home to some of the most influential instruments in the development of electronic music, including state-of-the-art synthesisers spanning six decades. According to LCM, “The Townshend Studio is designed to unite legacy and contemporary technologies, inspiring people through the forward-looking example of Pete Townshend and his teacher Roy Ascott.” 

UWL Student Ambassador Chris Richardson took the young musicians around the studio, explaining the history and sound of each incredible instrument and highlighting their uses in well-known songs by The Who, Stevie Wonder and more!

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Breaking the ice

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The young creators were supported by industry professionals, Victoria Port, Joe Newman (J-Felix) and Vondo Nkomo and UWL Audio Technician, Thomas McQuaid. They offered expertise and guidance in songwriting and production, as well as anecdotes about working in the industry and studying music. 

Victoria is an Engering mentor and works with one of our Thrive musicians, Astrid, via one-to-one sessions to explore her songwriting and offer industry insights. Check out this video on what Astrid and her mentor, Victoria had to say about their experiences on the Engering Music Creators project:

“I wish there was something like Engering Music Creators around when I was starting out in music. I love that each young person is paired with an industry professional who really kind of gets what they’re trying to get out of their whole musical journey, and also all of the opportunities like today. There’s so much for young people on this programme.”
– Victoria Port

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Getting creative

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Our young musicians then had the opportunity to work together in small groups to create their own short demo track, based on materials they brought with them to the session. Together they developed melody lines, lyrics and chord progressions that they later recorded with Thomas!

With the support from Victoria, Joe and Vondo, the musicians also explored chord progressions, with a focus to writing intuitively rather than getting transfixed on music theory. The group discussed different approaches to writing, how different chord progressions can make you feel, and the benefits of setting challenges for yourself when songwriting. 

This was a great opportunity for the young people to collaborate and dictate the pace of the session with their own songwriting processes, as well as experiment with different styles and ways of working. For example, one of the young musicians, Steven, is a classically trained violinist and ended up improvising on the other groups’ tracks to give a new perspective to their pop creations. Astrid says:

“I don’t get to collaborate with other young artists very much. When I write, it’s usually very independent, and I’ve always preferred it that way. But I think that it’s amazing to get to experience these events and work with different people from all over the country.” 

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Wrapping up

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This Studio Session Day offered an inspiring glimpse into a real music industry setting for our young music creators to explore and experiment with their craft. Here are what some of them had to say about the experience: 

“I enjoyed being in a professional recording studio for the first time and learning about music technology, which I didn’t know much about before!”
– Steven 

“I enjoyed the day and the musical environment. It was really amazing to be in a space with other music makers and to learn from people with more experience than me.”
– Elouan 

“It was really interesting to hear from people in a different musical circle than me”
– Kelton 

We’d like to say a huge thank you to the Margaret Engering Music Trust, Esther Sheridan and the staff at University of West London, Victoria Port, Joe Newman, Vondo Nkomo for all of their support, and to the young musicians and their parents and carers for coming along and making our first Engering Studio Session such a special day!

Musical opportunities and events like these are offered to young music creators on our Thrive programme.